HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-10-12-DAC-min.pdf 'MEETING NOTES
DATE, 12 October 1993
SUBJECT Design Advisory Committee
PRESENT John Frey
Betsey Whitman
Steve Hurley
Judy Ozuransky (Arts Council)
Jackie Davison (Planning Board)
John Vinton
NOTES BY John Vinton
1 Minutes from the last meeting were approved.
2. Board of Appeals. Mailboxes requested a wall sign facing Marren Road and the Gulf station
to supplement the primary sign on the front facade of the store facing Waltham Street The DAC
discouraged Mailboxes from further pursuit of the wall sign and requested that they look into
either improving the visibility of the present sign or substituting a free standing sign along the
Waltham Street frontage, This maintains the sign bylaw approach of one primary sign per
establishment.
Mailboxes will come back with a revised proposal and will refer to the Design Guidelines for
assistance
3 Board of Appeals. Lexington Ridge submitted revised design for a temporary free standing
sign along Waltham Street at the entry to the site. The submittal conforms to the Board of
Appeals resolution for the sign not to exceed 40 sf in a direction parallel to the street. The three
sided sign was made up of 5 by 8'panels, In conformance with the resolution, the back panel
parallel to Waltham Street, does not exceed 40 sf. The DAC found the graphics and
configuration of the sign acceptable, given that the size was already approved by the Board of
Appeals. Lighting will be only during hours of operation of the rental office which are
anticipated to be largely 9 to 5 The committee suggested that the back panel which was shown
as blank be also used for graphics Lexington Ridge representative thought that a thank you
message may be applied
4 Board of Appeals. Waldorf School representative presented additional information on the
circular bench which has been an ongoing student project at the school. The bench is now
fabricated and will be ready soon for installation on site The school in their submittal for a
building permit will include drawings and engineering for the bench with respect to structural
capacity safety and handicapped accessibility (clearance between benches, etc.) The
presentation to the DAC was primarily for location and layout. The school proposes to locate the
bench on the lawn area east of the branch library The specific site selected by the students is
under the branches of one of the large trees, feeling somewhat secluded yet accessible from
Massachusetts Avenue. The DAC members felt that the bench would be a valuable addition to
the library grounds, and commended the school's representative for the creativity of the project.
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Subsequent to the meeting, a DAC delegation met with the school on site and approved the
proposed location.
5 Boston Edison Sidewalk Improvements. were reviewed as presented to the selectmen and
approved for action. The revised plan includes two groupings of two benches toward the
westerly end of the walk, and relocates the monument to a more prominent location. All found
the plan attractive and thanked John Frey and Steve Hurley for their hard work.
6. Harrington Road Closing' Design Considerations. Tom Fortman, representing the residents
of Harrington Road, proposed that the present road closure trial be made permanent and that the
road be restored to its condition during the Lexington Battle era, and thus be an historical period
piece, like Battle Road in Minuteman Park. Mr Fortman also noted that this would be
pedestrian friendly The DAC will be looking into this issue as well as public accessibility and
circulation around the green when making a recommendation to the Selectmen regarding the next
design option to be tried. The present trial of the closure option will end on December 31st. At
that time the Selectmen will direct the Traffic Safety Committee to set up another trial based
upon one way traffic and turn limit options. The specific configuration of the trial is yet to be
determined.
Judy Ozuransky Steve Hurley and John Vinton will form a subcommittee to follow this issue
and develop alternatives for DAC consideration and recommendation to the Selectmen.
7 Emery Park. Jerry Whiting and Kathy Green of the Lexington Field and Garden Club and
Sarah Arnold of the Transportation Advisory Committee and others attended to provide input into
the development of the Emery Park scheme Steve Hurley presented a synopsis of the thinking
to date that underlies the present scheme. Steve noted that this has been a considered methodical
public process since so many town parties are involved in Emery Park, including local
businesses, town committees citizen groups, town departments and interested residents. A
public/private initiative is fundamental to the design and financing of the project.
A key component of the plan is the requirement that Lexpress comply with new handicapped
accessibility levels mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) now in force. The
Transportation Advisory Committee has studied a number of alternatives for achieving
accessibility and believes the present plan best meets accessibility guidelines. Steve reviewed
other options and the reasons why they fall short, including the Mass Ave option which would
eliminate Lexpress in the park. The Mass Ave option, Steve explained requires a percentage of
transfers to walk across Mass Ave which would be a critical hurdle for the frail elderly who
presently are frequent users of the service.
The Garden Club representatives indicated that they have a special interest in the park in that the
namesake was the founder and longtime president of the Lexington Field and Garden Club which
is amongst the oldest garden clubs in the country The garden club s interest is to see that the
park is preserved and certainly not reduced in area and importance. Steve Hurley indicated that
the present proposal actually increases the area within the park. Club members noted that a
significant portion of that area however was devoted to paving for the bus driveway and standing
area which concerned them. DAC subcommittee felt that this could be tastefully and attractively
done and was not inconsistent with Garden Club goals.
The safety of persons departing the buses would be addressed by the flush arrival zone (no
curbs) and a sufficiently wide area out of traffic for standing and waiting. It was noted that the
arrival area is an island though and has the disadvantage that the frail elderly would have to cross
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at least one roadway to get to any center destination other than the park itself such as shops,
restaurants, etc. which would likely be the reason for the trip
The DAC subcommittee will continue its round of meetings with interested groups in order to
thoroughly investigate the pluses and minuses of the proposed option. The next meeting will be
with the Civic Improvement Committee of the Garden Club scheduled for 10/13. A meeting with
the full Garden Club will follow in about two weeks.
8 DAC New Members. In addition to Kerry Brandon, the committee regretted to hear that
Rick Bechtel also will be stepping down, due to competing demands on his time. The committee
considered four candidates for the two open positions, and elected to recommend to the
Selectmen that Hubert Murray and Karen Bechtel be offered the positions. Hubert s expertise in
planning as well as architecture and Karen s expertise in graphic design seemed to best fill out
the committee's breadth and technical expertise. The committee also asked John to approach the
Selectmen with the request that the other two candidates, who were also well qualified, be
offered positions as alternates who would become voting members whenever less than nine
regular members were in attendance at a scheduled meeting.
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